Work-life balance, politicians and Occupational Health
Jacinda Ardern, the 42 year old Prime Minister (PM) of New Zealand, on 19th January 2023 announced her resignation citing that she no longer had ‘enough in the tank’ to continue leading her country. The resignation, she said, was not because the job was hard...
De-glamorize overwork if you want to live long and healthy
In some cultures, overworking is glamour. In some organizations, it is glamourous to overwork; employees think they are being seen. There are also organizations where overwork is encouraged. Should anyone overwork? In the 1990s, when sociologist Junko Kitanaka from Keio University, Japan first started studying...
PFAS reduction: a wellness initiative
Poly Fluro Alkyl Substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals used in industrial and personal products. PFAS are also called as ‘forever chemicals’ because they have long half-life (not easily broken down) and hence persist in the environment, including human and animal tissues. PFAS have been detected...
Excessive meetings: an occupational risk to mental health and productivity
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is known to tell employees to skip pointless meetings that waste their time. Satya Nadella, during covid once remarked by citing brain studies about video meetings to highlight how draining they can be, saying, “Thirty minutes into your first video meeting...
Effect on mental health due to inadequate or poor safety systems at workplace
We hardly think about what effect a poor or inadequate safety system could have on mental health. We are aware that it can physically harm, but a UK study published in May 2020 in Occupational Medicine journal indicates that inadequate or poor safety systems does...
Occupational Health for occupational success
If one is to achieve success in the chosen occupation, then inclusion of Occupational Health (OH) is necessary. This is because sometimes an illness can be a hinderance to rise in corporate ladder or even in a personally run business. It is even more daunting...
Stress due to social media, resilience and the OH physician!
With the advent of various apps, data being freely available and internet charges being affordable there is too much happening on the web leading to information overload. That it causes stress is no surprise. What is surprising is that most of those who are stressed...
Coffee break, work performance, leadership, and occupational health
Sidney Harman, cofounder of Harman Kardon music systems was told in 1968 that his company’s factory at Bolivar, Tennessee, USA was having a crisis. Harman rushed to the factory and saw a ‘raw, ugly and, in many ways, demeaning’ facility. The crisis was that men...
